DIR685 revival

Hello,

In an attempt to update the kernel to 3.18.24, I bricked the router. It won't boot anymore. I do have access to boot loader and serial console but not sure what options do I've. I tried option Y with a compiled 3.18.24 zImage to upgrade the kernel. It did erased all of 32MB flash and programmed it successfully.

Wish you had replied sooner lol. You were absolutely right about what you had to say. I could able to get the TFTP working again after the factory reset only to brick it completely using the Firmware option lol.

Oh well... learning continues..

Trying to figure out a way to get the whole flash binaries from another working board through JTAG ...

If you are using the FTD chip for connecting to the RS232 port, then you maybe able to use it for connecting to the JTAG bus.
The process written by HWGuru is what you need plus the binaries.

Never had the need to unbrick a NAS box via JTAG myself, but our forum admin is an expert at it.
A bit of a guess here, but you just need to have a copy of all the MTD "partitions" and load them in the right places via JTAG.
You can save them from a working NAS box with the appropriate Linux command (forgot them, not being a Linux user!).

Probably reading the entire flash via JTAG is the best way to go though.

Not sure what SOC your NAS box has but I don't think its a storlink based product (as per the NAS boxes in this forum).
You might get better answers on a site specific to this NAS box.

Could also think outside the box and see if there is an WRT port that suits your NAS box.
I run WRT on my NAS box and it has re-purposed it to a useful device (OEM firmware was total and unfinished bloat ware).